WebFOCUS InfoAssist Enhancements

In this section:

InfoAssist is a powerful report generation tool that enables business users to leverage state of the art ad hoc functionality. With InfoAssist, you can generate highly complex reports, charts, and documents from any enterprise information source without IT intervention. You can also analyze multiple reports and charts simultaneously and output report data in a variety of formats.


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InfoAssist Report, Chart, and Document New Features

In this section:

The following new features apply to InfoAssist reports, charts, and documents.



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Within Support for InfoAssist

As of Release 8.0 Version 04, new aggregation functionality is available in InfoAssist. Within functionality allows you to use specific aggregation tasks at different report levels. You can use the Within phrase to manipulate display field values as they are aggregated within a sort group, rather than a report column.

In the following image, the output on the left shows the percentage distribution for the entire column, whereas the output on the right shows aggregation within a region.

Note: You can have a maximum of two Within phrases. The first applies to By fields and the second applies to Across fields.



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Procedure: How to Access the Within Functionality
  1. With a report open, in the Query Design pane, select the numeric measure data source field.

    The Field tab appears on the ribbon.

  2. On the Field tab, in the Display group, click Within, as shown in the following image.

    Note: Depending on how your data is set up, you can apply the Within phrase on a By or Across field.

    Optionally, you can access the Within functionality from the right-click menus on the column level, as shown in the following image. You can also access these menus when you right-click on an operator (for example, SUM) in the Query pane.

  3. On the Within menu, click the down arrow to select the Within phrase for the By or Across field, as shown in the following image.

  4. Select a By or Across field from the list of available fields.
  5. Run the report to view output.


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Subquery Filter Using a HOLD File

Note: As of WebFOCUS Release 8.0 Version 02, subquery filter functionality is available in InfoAssist.

HOLD files are a mechanism for storing temporary output files on the WebFOCUS Reporting Server. The life span of these files can range from very transient, such as files saved in the EDATEMP directory of a reporting agent for use in the same procedure (FEX), to longer lasting files containing precalculated or presummarized data that may be run nightly and used throughout the following day.

HOLD files are required for various reports and constructs. One such use is when a developer requires specific sort fields in a report and they are in a multi-path structure. The developer may create a HOLD file to drop the multi-path structure and then report off the HOLD file to get the desired report. HOLD files can be created to use in a report, chart, document, or dashboard.

In InfoAssist, you can create a subquery using a HOLD file. A subquery is a nested query, which is added to the Where clause of an SQL statement. A subquery is valuable because it is reusable.

For more information on subquery filters using a HOLD file, see the InfoAssist User’s Manual.



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InfoAssist Basic

InfoAssist Basic is a modern, web-based facility that provides comparable functionality to legacy reporting tools. InfoAssist Basic contains many of the features of InfoAssist, while still allowing you to create and edit reports and charts as you would with a legacy tool.



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Accessibility

You can click the Accessibility button, in the Format tab, to add a title to a report, chart, or document that is Section 508 compliant. This option is only available for reports and charts when the output type is HTML or PDF. For documents, the output type must be set to PDF.

In the Business Intelligence Portal, accessibility mode is on by default for Section 508 users. Non-Section 508 users must click the Accessibility On link in the BI Portal banner to enable accessibility. The Accessibility button is shown in the following image.



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Field to Field Conditional Styling and Drilldowns

You can add new conditional styling or modify existing conditional styling by applying traffic light colors to a selected field in the output when the field meets specific criteria. You can also create drilldowns for conditions. The Traffic Lights button, in the Display group under the Field tab, opens the Traffic Light Condition dialog box. For more information related to reports, see How to Apply Traffic Light Conditional Styling to Data in a Report in the WebFOCUS InfoAssist User’s Manual. For more information related to charts, see How to Apply Traffic Light Conditional Styling to a Chart in the WebFOCUS InfoAssist User’s Manual.



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Missing Data

The Missing Data menu enables you to control the display of missing data values in a chart. The Display group, under the Data tab, provides access to the Missing Data menu, as shown in the following image.

When you select the Missing Data button, a drop-down menu appears, as shown in the following image.

When you select Gap and you are using a bar, line, or area chart, missing values appear as a gap in the chart.

When you select Zero and you are using a bar chart, a bar appears on the zero line. If you are using a line chart, a solid line connects the missing value with the succeeding value. For an area chart, the area appears on the zero line.

When you select Interpolated Line and you are using a line graph, missing values will appear as an interpolated dotted line that connects the plot points preceding and succeeding the missing value. When using bar or area graphs, missing values will display as an interpolated bar or area chart.


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InfoAssist Report New Features

In this section:

The following new features apply to InfoAssist reports.



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Restarting Page Numbering After a Page Break

To start a new page in your report when the primary sort field changes, you can use the Page Break button in the Break group. To reset the page numbers on a page break to start at 1, you can click the drop-down arrow and select Reset Page Numbers.



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Active Technologies Report Styling Options

You can configure your active report options, such as menu items, graph engine, and colors. The active report options button opens the active report options dialog box. It is only available when the output type is set to active report, active Flash, or active PDF. This button is shown in the following image. For more information, see Using Active Technologies Report Options in the WebFOCUS InfoAssist User’s Manual.



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Default Currency Symbol

You can change the default currency symbol for reports. The Style button in the Report group provides access to report level styling, where you can change the currency symbol. To select the default currency symbol, click the Currency icon .



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Report Assistant Functionality Not Available in InfoAssist

The following topics list all properties, features, and functionality available in Report Assistant, but not available in InfoAssist.



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Field List in the Field Selection Tab

The following field list option is not available in InfoAssist:

  • Field List Searching


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Output Format Area in Report Options

The following report options output format areas are not available in InfoAssist:

  • Report title
  • Summary text for 508-enabled report output
  • User output format

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InfoAssist Document New Features

In this section:

The following new features apply to InfoAssist documents.



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Multi-Page Documents and Dashboards

In Document mode, content can be created on multiple pages. The available output formats are: PDF, HTML, active report, PowerPoint, Excel, active PDF, and active Flash.

For more information on multi-page documents and dashboards, see the InfoAssist User’s Manual.



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Relative Positioning

When two objects are selected, the Relative Position button aligns the bottom-left corner of the component that is higher on the page next to the top-left corner of the one that is lower. Once a relationship is created, arrows appear to show that relationship while both items are still selected. The Relative Position button, located in the Size and Arrange group under the Layout tab, is only available in Document view.



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Power Painter Functionality Not Available in InfoAssist

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